NHL Referee and Official Stats -2019 Edition

NHL Referee Kevin Pollock

With any sport at any level, there is one area that consistently gets the most critique.  The officiating.  Whether it’s in minor hockey or through to the National Hockey League or at the International level, the referees and officials are constantly under the microscope of players, coaches, managers, parents and hockey fans. 

NHL Officiating Stats from 2018/19

  • There were 38 referees that officiated NHL games last season.
  • The average number of penalties per game was four in 2018/19
  • There were 3.3 powerplays per game in 2018/19
  • The average NHL game saw 9.3 penalty minutes per game in 2018/19
  • There were 34 suspensions handed out during the 2018/19 season (including pre-season) for a total of 77 games.
  • There were 24 players fined for s total of $100,091.39 in 2018/19
Referee Games Goals / game PP / game Minors / game Penalties / game PIM / game % Penalty home team Home team win % % Gm to OT/SO
Morton, Dean 78 5.9 2.9 3 3.4 8.4 47% 59% 24%
St. Pierre, Justin 76 5.9 2.7 2.9 3.1 7 48% 58% 29%
Pollock, Kevin 76 5.7 2.8 3 3.3 7.4 47% 53% 25%
Rehman, Kyle 75 6 2.9 3.2 3.7 9.2 48% 52% 21%
O’Halloran, Dan 75 6 2.8 2.9 3.4 8.5 49% 59% 21%
Hanson, Trevor 75 6.4 2.9 3.2 3.7 8.6 48% 63% 28%
Hebert, Jean 75 6.4 3 3.4 4 9.9 47% 53% 32%
L’Ecuyer, Frederick 75 6 3.2 3.5 3.9 9.2 48% 44% 16%
Chmielewski, Tom 75 5.8 2.8 3.1 3.4 7.9 45% 49% 23%
Dwyer, Gord 75 6.2 3 3.3 3.7 8.8 51% 53% 19%
Mclsaac, Jon 75 6 3.1 3.4 3.9 8.8 52% 61% 12%
Luxmore, TJ 75 5.9 2.8 2.9 3.2 7.3 52% 61% 17%
Furlatt, Eric 75 5.7 2.9 3.1 3.4 7.7 48% 53% 24%
Walsh, Ian 75 6 2.9 3.1 3.6 8.9 48% 51% 21%
Nicholson, Kendrick 75 6.1 2.7 2.8 3.2 7.4 48% 60% 20%
McCauley, Wes 75 6 2.5 2.8 3.1 7.6 51% 49% 19%
Kozari, Steve 75 6 3.2 3.5 3.9 9.1 47% 55% 11%
Peel, Tim 74 6 3.1 3.1 3.6 8.4 48% 57% 30%
Hebert, Ghislain 74 6.4 3.4 3.6 3.9 9.1 51% 59% 20%
Skilliter, Graham 74 5.8 2.9 3.2 3.6 8.6 48% 49% 20%
Joannette, Marc 74 5.7 2.6 2.8 3.1 7 48% 54% 23%
Lambert, Pierre 74 6 2.8 3.1 3.6 8.5 50% 43% 16%
Pochmara, Brian 70 6.1 2.7 2.8 3.1 7 51% 43% 19%
Brenk, Jake 69 6 2.8 3.2 3.5 7.8 48% 46% 25%
Watson, Brad 68 6.3 2.9 3.2 3.4 7.5 50% 59% 18%
St. Laurent, Francois 65 6.4 3 3.2 3.6 8.4 47% 57% 17%
Meier, Brad 60 5.7 3.1 3.3 3.8 8.7 47% 52% 22%
Sutherland, Kelly 55 5.6 2.7 2.9 3.2 6.9 47% 51% 25%
Schlenker, Chris 53 6.3 3.3 3.5 3.8 8.4 48% 51% 25%
South, Furman 35 6.2 3.4 3.6 4.1 10.2 49% 49% 20%
MacDougall, Peter 30 6.8 3.2 3.3 3.6 8.2 50% 60% 20%
Lee, Chris 27 5.5 2.6 3 3.3 7.9 51% 52% 37%
Syvret, Corey 24 6.5 3.3 3.7 4.1 9.8 48% 54% 4%
O’Donnell, Conor 1 7 4 5 8 35 50% 0% 100%
Dunning, Mitch 1 7 2.5 3.5 3.5 7 43% 0% 0%
Schrader, Brandon 1 9 2 3.5 4 9.5 63% 0% 0%
Markovic, Michael 1 5 2 3 3 6 33% 100% 100%
Halkidis, Beau 1 7 3.5 3.5 4.5 12 44% 0% 0%
* NHL AVERAGE 2018-19 5.8 3.3 3.5 4 9.3 50% 57% 20%

NHL Referee Stats for 2018/19 NHL Season

Looking forward to the 2019/20 National Hockey League season, here are some stats for NHL referees and linesmen.  According to data from scoutingtherefs.com, the NHL has 83 officials under contract for the 2018/19 season.  There are only four officials that were in the League, the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.

  • The NHL has 44 referees slated to officiate games
  • Of these 44 refs, 77.3% are from Canada
  • Of these 44 refs, 22.7% are from the United States
  • 73% of NHL referees are from the Eastern time zone (Note: 51.6% of NHL teams are located in the Eastern time zone)
  • The average age of NHL referees is 38.9 years old
  • The average number of career games officiated by these 44 refs is 562 games
  • The average number of playoff games officiated by the 2018/19 ref team is 42 games

NHL Linesman Stats for 2018/19 NHL Season

Looking forward to the 2019/20 National Hockey League season, here are some stats for NHL linesmen.

  • The NHL has 39 linesmen under contract to officiate games
  • Of these 44 refs, 77.3% are from Canada
  • Of these 39 linesmen under contract, 15.4% are from the United States
  • There is one lineman from the Czech Repulic (Libor Suchanek)
  • Nearly 54% of linesmen are from the Eastern Time Zone (includes Suchanek)
  • The average age of NHL linesmen is 39.3 years old
  • The average number of career games officiated by these officials is 755 games
  • The average number of playoff games officiated by the 2018/19 linesmen team is 56 games

List of 2018/19 NHL Officials

# Referee Name Age Birthplace Country NHL Debut Career Games Playoff Games
1 O’Halloran, Dan 55 Essex, ON CAN 10/1/1995 1,451 212
2 Pollock, Kevin 49 Kincardine, ON CAN 3/28/2000 1,304 198
3 Peel, Tim 53 Hampton, NB CAN 10/21/1999 1,302 90
4 Joannette, Marc 50 Verdun, QC CAN 10/1/1999 1,300 159
5 Meier, Brad 52 Dayton, OH USA 10/23/1999 1,283 76
6 Sutherland, Kelly 48 Richmond, BC CAN 12/19/2000 1,207 167
7 Furlatt, Eric 47 Trois-Rivieres, QC CAN 10/8/2001 1,176 126
8 Rooney, Chris 44 Boston, MA USA 11/22/2000 1,162 110
9 Walsh, Ian 47 Philadelphia, PA USA 10/14/2000 1,142 30
10 Lee, Chris 49 St. John, NB CAN 4/2/2001 1,109 71
11 McCauley, Wes 47 Georgetown, ON CAN 1/20/2003 1,032 141
12 O’Rourke, Dan 47 Calgary, AB CAN 10/2/1999 1,016 128
13 Dwyer, Gord 42 Sackville, NS CAN 11/19/2015 943 55
14 St. Pierre, Justin 47 Dolbeau, QC CAN 11/9/2005 942 8
15 Kozari, Steve 46 Penticton, BC CAN 10/15/2005 895 89
16 Pochmara, Brian 42 Detroit, MI USA 12/23/2005 836 38
17 Morton, Dean 51 Peterborough, ON CAN 11/11/2000 825 5
18 St. Laurent, Francois 42 Greenfield Park, QC CAN 11/10/2005 740 48
19 L’Ecuyer, Frederick 42 St-Tite, QC CAN 10/13/2007 701 11
20 Rehman, Kyle 40 Red Deer, AB CAN 1/22/2008 679 9
21 Hebert, Ghislain 38 Bathurst, NB CAN 3/3/2009 588 0
22 Charron, Francis 36 Ottawa, ON CAN 4/5/2010 481 47
23 Hebert, Jean 39 Bouctouche, NB CAN 3/30/2011 474 33
24 Skilliter, Graham 34 La Ronge, SK CAN 1/28/2013 403 0
25 Hanson, Trevor 35 Richmond, BC CAN 10/24/2013 325 13
26 Luxmore, TJ 34 Timmins, ON CAN 11/19/2013 321 0
27 Rank, Garrett 32 Elmira, ON CAN 1/15/2015 262 0
28 McIsaac, Jon 35 Truro, NS CAN 11/21/2013 255 4
29 Nicholson, Kendrick 37 Milverton, ON CAN 1/17/2015 254 0
30 Chmielewski, Tom 32 Scott AFB, IL USA 4/8/2014 223 0
31 Brenk, Jacob 37 Detroit Lakes, MN USA 11/12/2015 182 0
32 Schlenker, Chris 35 Medicine Hat, AB CAN 10/24/2016 112 0
33 Lambert, Pierre 31 St-Hubert, QC CAN 11/17/2016 112 0
34 South, Furman * 31 Sewickley, PA USA 4/6/2017 43 0
35 MacDougall, Peter 33 Regina, SK CAN 4/8/2017 39 0
36 Anderson, Reid * 30 Calgary, AB CAN 3/21/2018 31 0
37 Syvret, Corey * 30 Millgrove, ON CAN 4/4/2018 25 0
38 Blandina, Brandon * 28 Centennial, CO USA 3/19/2019 1 0
39 O’Donnell, Conor * 29 Hamilton, ON CAN 4/6/2019 1 0
40 Dunning, Mitch * 27 Tecumseh, ON CAN 3/28/2019 1 0
41 Schrader, Brandon * 25 Sanborn, NY USA 3/1/2019 1 0
42 Markovic, Michael * 29 Scarborough, ON CAN 3/7/2019 1 0
43 Halkidis, Beaudry * 25 London, ON CAN 4/1/2019 1 0
44 Kelly, Dan * 30 Morrisonville, NY USA TBD 0 0
# Linesman Name Age Birthplace Country NHL Debut Career Games Playoff Games
45 Murphy, Brian 54 Dover, NH USA 10/7/1988 1,922 303
46 Driscoll, Scott 51 Seaforth, ON CAN 10/10/1992 1,779 185
47 Racicot, Pierre 52 Verdun, QC CAN 10/12/1993 1,760 241
48 Devorski, Greg 50 Guelph, ON CAN 10/9/1993 1,714 210
49 Kovachik, Brad 48 Woodstock, ON CAN 10/10/1996 1,519 152
50 Amell, Derek 50 Port Colborne, ON CAN 10/11/1997 1,443 210
51 Gibbs, Darren 52 Ft. McMurray, AB CAN 10/1/1997 1,428 16
52 Sericolo, Tony 51 Troy, NY USA 10/21/1998 1,381 24
53 Mach, Brian 45 Little Falls, MN USA 10/7/2000 1,287 2
54 Miller, Steve 47 Stratford, ON CAN 10/11/2000 1,271 139
55 Murray, Jonny 45 Beauport, QC CAN 10/7/2000 1,211 118
56 Barton, Steve 47 Vankleek Hill, ON CAN 11/1/2000 1,206 88
57 Brisebois, David 43 Sudbury, ON CAN 10/11/2000 1,176 45
58 Rody, Vaughan 50 Winnipeg, MB CAN 10/8/2000 1,095 19
59 Shewchyk, Mark 44 Waterdown, ON CAN 10/9/2003 1,076 44
60 Galloway, Ryan 47 Winnipeg, MB CAN 10/17/2002 1,075 18
61 Cormier, Michel 45 Trois-Rivieres, QC CAN 10/10/2003 1,070 61
62 Nansen, Derek 47 Ottawa, ON CAN 10/11/2002 1,060 51
63 Cherrey, Scott 43 Drayton, ON CAN 10/6/2007 829 88
64 Pancich, Bryan 36 Great Falls, MT USA 10/3/2009 635 29
65 MacPherson, Matt 36 Antigonish, NS CAN 10/11/2011 547 45
66 Murchison, Kiel 34 Cloverdale, BC CAN 1/21/2013 476 16
67 Knorr, Trent 32 Powell River, BC CAN 11/13/2013 365 20
68 Alphonso, Shandor 35 Orangeville, ON CAN 10/17/2014 319 0
69 Gibbons, Ryan 34 Vancouver, BC CAN 10/8/2015 296 22
70 Berg, Devin 30 Kitchener, ON CAN 10/15/2015 273 17
71 Gawryletz, Brandon 36 Trail, BC CAN 10/14/2015 267 0
72 Daisy, Ryan 31 Mansfield, MA USA 10/13/2016 199 5
73 Nagy, Kory 29 London, ON CAN 10/12/2016 187 0
74 Smith, Andrew 28 Kitchener, ON CAN 10/4/2017 151 5
75 Suchanek, Libor 30 Stod, Czech CZE 11/16/2017 111 0
76 Gawryletz, Travis 33 Trail, BC CAN 11/8/2017 101 0
77 Mills, Bevan 31 Surrey, BC CAN 11/29/2016 100 0
78 Tobias, James 24 Buffalo, NY USA 11/22/2017 59 0
79 Marquis, Jesse * 25 Bouctouche, NB CAN 10/11/2018 31 0
80 Baker, Tyson * 24 St. Mary’s, ON CAN 10/10/2018 30 0
81 Flemington, Kyle * 27 Parkhill, ON CAN TBD 0 0
82 Fournier, Julien * CAN TBD 0 0
83 Toomey, Travis * 29 Leduc, AB CAN TBD 0 0

Source: https://scoutingtherefs.com/nhl-officials/